


Knockback

by Fandomoverload5



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Shiro, Balmeran Hunk, Keith is basically just the same but more galran idk, Lance is sad, Multi, Olkari Pidge, There's also OCs but they're only mentioned like in the beginning and once later on sort of, all the other paladins are alien, anyway im sorry this is a mess it's just what if Lance is the last to find out about other beings, hoo boy, i'm a mess i'm sorry, if you like OCs I am NOT the fic author for you lmao sorry, like me too lmao, theyre not super relevant so if you don't like OCs don't worry they're pretty irrelevant, this is basically just Lance is the last one to know about space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-27 07:38:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomoverload5/pseuds/Fandomoverload5
Summary: Another tube opened to reveal an orange hair, mustachioed male. "Enemy combatants!" He jumped at Lance who casually sidestepped, then watched as the ginger man crashed to the ground. "Ah quiznak! You're lucky I have of a case of the old sleep chamber knees!""Coran, quit messing around and come help me open the other pods!"((Aka Lance is the only one that hasn't joined the fight yet when the lions wake up))





	1. Lucky Break

**Author's Note:**

> I literally didn't come up with a title like I don't know why I didn't think I needed one lmao i'm such a mess. Anyway, I usually like to write the entire fic, then post it when i'm done but that usually results in 1/4 of a fanfic, unedited in my notes for ever. 
> 
> I kinda blended shiro/Keith and their Earth storylines sort of idk just read and find out 
> 
> I'm just warning you i'm bad at character continuity but you know what I tried my best. Tbh most of the lines in the first few chapters will be from the show verbaitum. Like I copy pasted the wikis transcripts (which messed up quite a few lines, and even left out whole scenes) and changed the names and stuff. Wow i'm rambling i'm sorry I hope y'all enjoy my fuckin trash. There's some swearing in the story but not much. Rip okay bye

Lance spoke calmly into his intercom, while leaning back in his seat. "Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission." Lance watched as their ship began to renter the atmosphere. 

Nola, the resident engineer, groaned and said "Lance, can you keep this thing straight?" He shrugged and said "Sorry, Nola, I'm just getting a feel for the stick."

Nola had soft features, very undefined but undeniably compelling. She was stern, unlike her appearance, and often wore very plain clothing to go with her very plain personality (not as an insult, she just was very plain). She was kind, yes, but not someone Lance would get to know. She was not someone who found enough joy in the company of others to actually go out of their way to be around them. Pretty different from Lance, even though he didn't leave his room most of the time. 

"Feel the stick later, we've picked up a distress beacon!" Winta shouted, spinning in her chair. She, however was more like Lance. Outspoken, and noisy. Easy to read, and was the most dictionary definition of a open book there was. She was their best asset. 

Nola spoke again, being the one usually in charge. "All right, look alive, team! Winta, track coordinates." "Copy."

The ship shook again sending Nola flying sideways. "Knock it off, Lance! Please!"  
The computer beeping almost drowned out her voice, as she righted herself

"This one's on you. We've got a hydraulic stabilizer out." Nola shook her head and watched Lance fiddle with the equipment above his head then said, "Oh, no."

"I lost contact. The shaking is interfering with our sensors." Winta looked to Lance, who was getting nervous, mostly because each passing second is one more closer to the ground. "Come on, Nola!"

"It's not working!" She undid her belt and ran to the control panel, and managed to get at least some of the shaking under control. "Preparing for approach on visual." Lance felt his mind slow down and his hands begin to sweat. They were watching him and would critique it. If only he were alone, then it'd be fine. Nobody to watch him if he messed up. 

"I don't think that's advisable with our current mechanical issues!" Winta shouted while hitting buttons Lance had at one point memorized and long since forgotten, then Nola yelled "Agreed."

"What do you say we do? Crash?" Lance looked to Winta who sighed and shook her head, before undoing her belt and standing on her seat to reach the com she needed. "Attention, lunar vessel-"

With a major belt of turbulence, she was thrown to the ground. Winta picked herself off the floor and grabbed the com again. "What are you doing? Buckle your belt!" Nola yelled, but Lance wanted to focus more on the root of the issue. "Nola, I need you to stop that shaking!" Winta yelled into the com again, ignoring Nola's looks of desperation. "I'm trying!" She yelled to Lance, then got back to work. 

"Attention, lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction... against crew recommendations." Winta muttered the end and let the handheld part retract back to the ceiling. 

"No time for your mutinous comments now, Winta. They're going under and we're going in." Lance took a deep breath and let his instincts take over. He didn't have a good perception of their ships size, but that's okay. Just stay far from everything. 

The ground zoomed into view, as Lance yanked the ship parallel to it. They flew over the sand and towards hills. "Voltron Overhang!" Winta was panicked, even though Lance had never felt so at ease, the pressure usually did this to him. Rely on your instincts, and life will  
be a breeze. "Voltron Overhang?" Nola questioned, while clutching her seat. 

"No! I said I have visualization on the overhang! We're not getting good readings !" Winta frantically hit buttons and did whatever else was necessary to keep their ship in the air. 

"No worries." Then to himself, Lance whispered "my first year in flight school, they called me "The Tailor" because of how I thread the needle," and chuckled. 

"Stop complimenting yourself and look out!" Nola pointed at the overhang getting dangerously close, while Winta threw her arms over her eyes. "Come around, come around! Come on, come on!" Lance muttered to himself as they soared through the opening. 

Winta opened her eyes and sighed in relief as we looked over an open field. "We're clear!" Nola couldn't hide her cheer, with a loud "Yes!" Lance, however, could feel the nerves in his stomach going crazy. "Oh, man..."

"Prepping landing gear. Nice job, Lance. Winta smiled at Lance but he could barely smile back. He was just so happy to be alive. "Nola, you've got stabilizers?"

"Yup. Ready to go when you are." He pulled them out of their little valley best he could with the stabilizers out, and managed to make a shark turn towards the field. They were still going down, but slower than they were five minutes earlier. Lance gained his voice again to say, "On my mark. In three.... two... now..."  
The landing gear slammed into position with a loud hiss, before the vessel touched down with a light bump. 

Winta, Nola and Lance stared at the green lights, and the rectangular-like box that said "simulation cleared", then stood up. 

"Nice work, Tailor." Winta smiled at him, that deadly smile. She had jet black hair, with skin to match. Her steel grey eyes held fondness when looking at Lance. Ever since their first day in school, they'd been watching each other. Little things, from day one. Lance, although somewhat of a self-proclaimed ladies man, had stopped when he saw her. He never winked, nodded, or so much as stared at other girls anymore. He wasn't sure why. Content? Here he was, spending all day with a gorgeous girl, at the end of the day he was too tired to find others beautiful. She just outshone all of them. 

Lance gave her his usual smile back. "It was nothin'." Winta nodded sarcastically, "whatever you say."

"Well done cadets. Minor mistakes, anyone want to name one?" Iverson looked out over the hoard of classmates all itching to take down the other teams. 

Two hands shot up, and the girl in the back was called on. "Two people took of their seat belts in flight." Then he pointed to the other. "They fought for most of the time!"

Iverson nodded and turned back to the three of us, all lined up shoulder to shoulder. Wintas arm lightly brushed mine, and my stomach couldn't stop the slight tingling. 

"You all did your jobs successfully. There's trust in your team, but your pilot is not your leader. You have bad chemistry, all three of you. You will be put in new groups by next week."

\---

Lance shrugged out of his room, and down the hall. He had to go somewhere, and do something. He saw all the little clusters of people standing there talking, it was rough. He'd never admit it, but it was rough. Lance was good at talking, but not at talking to friends. He had hundreds of acquaintances, but if he ever got bored there was nobody he was close enough to that he'd initiate any sort of friendship activity. Even his roommate was barely more than an acquaintance. He missed the friends he had before this school. The ones he was with before he got moved up. It wasn't fair that he got to be in class with them for three years and then be switched up where he knew no one. 

"Lights out in five!" 

When they went dark, Lance crept through the hallway to the roof. It wasn't hard to get there, especially when the guards are beyond oblivious. How did they not notice the plant had a jacket? Ridiculous.

Lance crawled to the edge of the roof and looked down over the valley. It was so peaceful in the dark, with nothing but the stars in the sky. It let Lance breathe deeply, and think about whatever he wanted. Mostly Winta. They weren't on the same team anymore, all because of Nola. If she would just back down and let him lead, then they'd be together. But noooo, it's all what Nola wants. 

Lance stopped himself. He wasn't mad at Nola, he really doesn't blame her, but he wants someone to blame. They were a good team, damnit. They survived and landed cleanly. Damn you, Iverson.

"Attention students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown. Security code zulu-niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in their barracks until further notice." Lance jumped at the alarms blaring, and rushed to stand up, only then did he see it. A giant flaming-hot ball went soaring through the sky and slammed down in the middle of the desert. Lance jumped back and gasped in surprise as the shockwave sent heat rippling over his body. 

He gathered his wits and set his mind on running. He climbed down the side of the building on the maintenance ladders and jumped the last two feet. He ran the whole way, through the desert hills. 

The garrison didn't have a physical test that had to be taken, but they looked down on pilots that weren't exactly up to standards with fitness. Lance was slim, could do a hundred push-ups in one shot, but was by no means physically fit. They let him slide but one of the pilots in his other class left halfway through the year because of it. This place was brutal. 

Lance finally crested the hill and peered over it at the makeshift tent around what appeared to be... a purple spaceship? "That's not one of ours." Lance whispered to himself, before laying down on the ground and staring at the hut. Cars came and went with ease, all from the garrison. 

Lance pulled out a pair of binoculars he thanked God he had in his pocket, and peered down at the door. The sun had just begun to rise, and put a soft light blue glow over everything, making Lance feel at ease. Sunrises are so worth the early wake-up. 

The curiosity burned behind Lances eyes, and forced him to thinking about how on earth he was supposed to get in there. Dig under? No, that would take too long. Maybe he could sneak in, but not with all those guards outside. He'd need a distraction. 

With no supplies, and no hope, Lance made a dash down the hill. He stayed out of sight from the Garrison guards, and crept ever closer to the base. He made it all the way to the base, and managed to grab a gun from an abandoned rack. He also snaked a med kit laying near it, then took off back into the hills. They hadn't set up proper security yet, and he got out by some stroke of luck. When he was out, he got about two miles away, then got to work. 

Kneeling down, Lance opened the med kit. He poured the bullets from the gun into the lid, and began to go through the contents. He needed something for the- there it is! 

Okay the bullets. Would wood fire melt them? Would smoke draw attention? No. No bullets, just the medical box contents. 

"No FREAKING WAY!" Lance yanked the heart medicine from its spot in the bottom of the med kit. "This is too good!" Lance opened the bottle to see it basically full, and almost shed a tear. "This is too good to be true..." he muttered while closing the lid again, and digging a small hole in the sand. He struck a match, then threw the rest on top, followed by almost all the bandages in the kit. 

The fire stayed lit wonderfully long enough to roast the medicine, that he switched into one of the gloves. While he rotated the glove over the fire every minute or so, he also began to unfold the fire blanket, which was mirrored to the point of blinding him. Lance couldn't help but grin again. Luck was in his favor today. 

He set up, with abandoned sticks and rocks, a small area of sand that glowed brilliantly in the new day. He shook the glove and saw the pills had been reduced to liquid, and grinned again. Thank you nitroglycerin. 

He packed up the kit and pocketed a few important items to sit with the other important items he kept with him. He stuffed the kit under a large boulder on the base of the hill he had done this near, and held up the glove to the light. He grinned sadisticly and whispered, "this better work," before putting one end of a bandage in the sun spot he had created with the blanket. He knew it was stupid to burn every match, but he needed the materials to burn. 

He wrapped the glove in the bandage, then took off. That should be enough direct heat to melt the plastic, and set off the explosion. Lance left the gun behind, too, obviously wiped of DNA. He didn't want anyone hurt, he just needed to see what was in that tent. 

Lance had felt an odd energy for the past couple days, and felt a tingling sensation every time his mind drifted to what was in the tent, while he waited. There was a mission that had been lost a while back, but that probably had nothing to do with this. That was five years ago, after all. 

Lance was patient, though he wasn't usually seen as that. He was the kind of patient where his mind could wander for hours and he still wouldn't be bored. Just a talent. As he was staring, he began to notice little things in the rocks below him. Little blue divits that looked like they were drawn in. After all, this area was pretty populated by Native Americans pre-Columbus, so they're probably just left over from that. The little markings looked like a cat. 

Lance wondered if they were made by a kid, or someone with a very shaky hand. That made him sad. A kid from so long ago, his name was lost forever. 

He was deep in thought about the kid when the ground pulsated. Lance looked over at his bomb site and sure enough, a smoke cloud shone like a beacon to the Garrison men, who all scrambled to get a closer look. When they'd cleared out, Lance made a break for it. He charged for the tent and got through, only to see it was a one-room tent with three guys inside. They all looked over at the boy in surprise, giving the kid on the bed just enough time to grab the nearest one and slam his head against the table next to him. Lance yanked one away from the control panel just before he hit the alert button to call the guards back. The kid hit the guy square in the chest and sent him tumbling over the bed he had just laid on, knocking him out. 

Lance threw the man he was holding towards the guy, who gave him a swift uppercut, and left Lance to catch his unconscious body. Lance lowered him to the floor, then took a step back to take in the guy in front of him. "You're Keith, right? I recognize you! You were the guy who was lost in that mission!"

"Good thing I wasn't lost. Taken, more like it. Let's go." Lance stared at him in bewilderment, and with his mouth gaping he asked, "taken? By what!" 

Keith shook his head and said, "not now. Let's leave. Fast." Lance heard the cars rolling back, and at a quick pace. He could see the rocky floor shaking from their cars. "Smart idea. How?"

Keith looked around desperately, then grabbed the badge from the closest unconscious man and held it up. "Just walk out the front door."

\---

Keith was as good a pilot as they said. Lance and Keith had just got in a car, but he could tell Keith just had that edge. That subtle twitch in his finger as they moved. Things like that. Keith was smart too, following the path the Garrison men had taken to the tent thing. He pulled off of the dusty indent for a road after maybe five minutes of not-so-smooth travel, and shut the car off. He had barely pulled the car out of view when three more raced around the bend in the path towards the site. 

Lance took this as an opportunity to bond with the new addition to Earth. "You were in the garrison five years ago? That means you went on a space mission when you were 10!"

Keith coughed and got out of the car, followed soon after by Lance. They walked in silence, Lance half a step behind Keith. "I was 12, actually." He said, after the longest time. "Huh?" "I was 12 when I was taken."

Lance mimicked Keith, with his eyes trained on the ground. "Taken?" His face didn't change. He didn't seem bitter about that word, just like it was a fact. What an odd guy. Lance thought he must've been lonely here on Earth, not being sad about leaving and all. Maybe he wasn't sad, and he just came to terms with it. Or he's just really good at hiding stuff. Maybe all three. 

"There's others up there. Actually, there's more creatures existing than there is grains of sand in this desert. I'm part of something bigger, and now you are too. How'd you find me, anyway?" 

Lance was busy trying to process the whole "aliens are real and you're even more insignificant" thing before he started answering questions. Keith snapped in front of lances face, drawing him to reality again. "Say again?" 

Keith sighed dramatically and said "how'd you find my ship? You obviously aren't with the Garrison." Lance shrugged. "I was sitting on the roof and I guess I saw your pod crash land. I followed the smoke and wanted to find out what it was. Especially after the Garrison was placed on lockdown. I'm still in school, by the way. Fighter class pilot."

Lance said that proudly, even though he was maybe third, if not second, to worst in the program. At least he was in it. 

"I was too. Iverson still in charge of you?" Lance nodded, and saw Keith snarl. It left a weird taste in his mouth. "What's so bad about him? Sure he's a dick sometimes but he's usually pretty normal."

Keith shook his head and said "old, petty rivalries. Nothing important." Lance could tell the guy wanted to berate him with questions about the Garrison, and what it's doing now. Why he held back, Lance couldn't tell. 

"Taken. Why?" Keith sighed again and kicked a rock. "Chance, mostly. Then it just worked out that I had to stay there for a while. A few fights had to be won for me to be here right now."

Lance looked around slightly jittery. "Will they attack us here? Whatever alien dudes you fight?" Keith shook his head and kicked his rock two feet ahead of the pair. 

"Why'd you come back? Couldn't you come back before?" Keith shrugged at the question. "Never had much reason to. I don't exactly have a dog to feed or something like that. We're actually going to my house right now."

Lance looked around, at the empty desert for miles. It was, all in all, completely empty. Lance decided it might've been dumb to trust this guy who fell from the sky and immediately started talking about aliens. It should've been a sign for Lance to leave when he saw the doctors about to inject him with something. What had he gotten himself into?

"Are you sure you're not here to exterminate the entire human race? What if the aliens used their alien magic to make you want to steal cows, and make crop circles, and plow fields, and other farm labor?" Keith shot Lance a dirty look that was half confusion, half amusement. His amusement was still diluted, but at least it wasn't all confusion. 

Hours ticked by as the sun journeyed across the sky. Lance tried to strain back to his memories as a kid of Greek myths and things, where the guy in the chariot would go across the sky. Hermes? No that wasn't it... oh dang it was Apollo! Always forgot that one. 

Too many hours ticked by, and Lance began to worry. Keith wasn't exactly a talker, which just left him to be anxious. The school would expel him if he ever returned, so why give them the satisfaction? Sneaking out during a lockdown? At night? Alone? Hell, they were probably still in lockdown right now when they found out Keith had escaped. 

When they found out Lance had escaped. 

It sent chills down his spine, knowing he was doing something wrong. Maybe it was the attention that it brought him, that maybe he would finally be noticed. Maybe people would even worry about him, the people he wished he could call friends. He did have one friend but she wasn't a friend. She was different...

A little while later Lance checked his watch to see it was almost two PM. "I'm sitting down." Lance announced before collapsing on the ground. "Not right now. We have less than an hour to go." 

Lance groaned and laid down, letting the sand stick to the right half of his face. "Noooooo" Lance whined, while closing his eyes. The hot desert sun was beating down on them pretty hard now, even though noon had just passed. "You know my grandpa told me when I was younger- he said "how far do you walk?" and me being the kid I am I said, "as far as you can go!" and he was like "no you only walk half as far as you can go, that way you can get home," and i'm warning you this is halfway i'm not walking more than this to get home I don't want to walk anymore how far is this wha-" 

Keith shoved lances stomach with his foot, making Lance shout in protest. "What! I didn't sign up to go on a desert hike in the middle of the day! Just because i'm brown doesn't mean I don't sweat! If anything I swear more, because darker colors attract more sunlight!"

"Wouldn't I attract more because i'm in all black pants with a black shirt on?" "Screw you, Buddy." Lance laid back down and was kicked again. "Stop! I didn't sleep last night I need one minute! God!" 

Keith let out a huff and said "suit yourself." Before walking a few steps away and peeing. Lance ignored him and continued to catch his breath. He wasn't exactly doing vigorous work, but it was draining for long times, in the heat especially. Keith better have stupid water in his stupid hut that's stupidly cold, or else I'll die. Lance though to himself, before opening his eyes again. Keith was standing and staring at Lance, more specifically from the knees down. 

"What?" "What?" "Why are you staring at my legs?" Keith pointed to lances sneakers and said, "where are the uniforms? We couldn't wear jeans on garrison property. Besides your shoes are weird." 

Lance shook his head, "my shoes are perfectly in style, thank you very much! Besides, I've always worn jeans. They let you wear them to things after class, if you like see your family on weekends and stuff like that." Keith made a face that was like Nola reacting to dumb puns, except it was more bland than that. Lance didn't think anyone could react less to a perfectly concocted joke. Too bad Winta wasn't here, she would've torn Keith a new asshole with puns. 

"Let's go," Lance said, and held out an arm to have Keith help lift him. Lance groaned and stretched for a moment, before nodding to Keith. As they took their first two dozen steps away from their area, Lance took off his jacket and tied it around his waist, then rolled up his shirt sleeves. Keith wore this odd red jacket that didn't even come down to his waist, it didn't make sense. Just... make it longer. 

They, after countless hours (six) they made it to the shack in the middle of the desert. "Can people follow our footsteps?"

Keith looked at Lance as they climbed the rotting wooden steps and said, "wouldn't they have already gotten us?" then yanked open the door. It let lose a cloud of dust that almost blinded Lance, but he quickly got used to it. The light was beautiful though the dirty windows, staining everything in the room a whiskey color. 

Lance pointed to the couch and said, "nap? Can I?" Keith shrugged and closed the screen door, but left the heavy wood one open, to let the musty smell air out. Five years of nothing, and God knows how many before. 

Lance felt safe in this couch for some reason, it was a fabric that was thick but soft. It was slightly itchy and smelt like mothballs and dust, making it just hat much more wonderful. He closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep, leaving Keith to go about restoring the three room shack to livable conditions. 

He swept the top layer of dust out of the house, then began to pick up the things that littered the ground around them. Keith crouched down and picked up one paper that had fallen, and stared at it intensely. The paper was all text, with a title of "Textual Evidence Behind Claim." 

Keith actually broke into a smile, remembering how mad this had made Iverson. If he wasn't already selected to fly the mission, he probably would've been thrown on his ass. That's what this house was for, when he wanted to be away from people like Iverson, and imagine how nice it would be to be thrown from the program. 

Keith tossed the paper on the desk he had in the small back room he mostly used as storage for his few belongings, like the tackle box his dad had given him, or the multitude of books his mother had left behind. All of them were just earth novels, nothing special. She was part human, after all. 

Keith busied himself with a few more things before remembering their current food situation, and going to check the cabinet. They were just as dusty as the room, and were for the most part empty. He threw out a handful of things that had expired years ago, then found a handful of cans. One had cranberry sauce, one had baked beans, and the last had peaches. 

Keith knew that kid would wake up hungry, so he pushed his own aside to wait for him to wake up. Although...he didn't have to know about the peaches. 

Keith tore open the lid and ate one, then another. The sugary juice exploded behind his eyes, as he licked his fingers with each slice he ate. The juice trickled down his arm and dripped off his elbow. He ate them way too quickly for his own preference, then drank the leftover juice. His mind tempted him to lick his own arm, but he gained his sanity and decided against it. 

He threw the can in the bag he had declared garbage bag, then sat down at the table and stared at the ground. So much had happened since he sat in this chair. Hell, there's someone in the other room. That had never happened before, except maybe when they built the place. 

With a sigh Keith leaned on the table, just as he used to in class, with his arms crossed and his head resting on top of both forearms. He stared at the decaying walls and all the pictures that were falling from old age. Before he knew it, his eyes were fluttering closed.


	2. The Cat

Lance woke up first, then pushed the guy on the table awake. Keith jumped and grabbed Lances hand in a vice grip, before remembering where they were. He dropped the startled arm and stood up. "Whats wrong?" 

Lance shook his head and said "nothing's wrong. I was just waking you up. It's almost morning." 

Keith looked outside through squinted eyes. "Morning? Jesus we've been out all night?" Lance shrugged and said "I woke up like ten minutes ago so I was just as surprised as you are." 

Keith slid his chair in and said, "we better get to work." He flipped off the radio that was blaring some chatter, but froze when Lance shouted to turn it back on. With a, "jeez, cam down," Keith switched it back on and moved to go into the room that was generously called the living room. "That's me!" Lance yelled through the house. "They're worried I snuck out of the Garrison and died fighting you. They think you killed me! Ha! You would never do that...right?"

Keith walked back into the kitchen and slapped the radio Lance was clutching. "Never mind that. We have work to do." Lance groaned in annoyance. "Work? I don't want to do work!" 

Keith ignored that and stepped back through the doorway, followed shortly after by Lance. "What the hell is that?" 

Lances eyes were drawn to the cork board on the closest wall, that was completely covered in pictures and writing. "It's a map. A map I created when I was still living here. I kept noticing these weird frequencies all coming from this area right here." He excentuated the word "here" by slamming his finger on the largest red circle on the board. 

"What is it a map to?" Keith shook his head. "That's what I've been wondering. I can't explain it, really. Before flying for the Garrison, I was kind of lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It's like something... some energy, was telling me to search." 

Lance shook his head. "Search? For what?" Keith shrugged and stared at his wall of string and pushpins. "Well, I didn't really know at the time... until I stumbled across this area." He pointed to one of the Polaroid pictures on the side closest to Lance. "It's an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then I realized that it was me that showed up." 

Lance unpinned one of the pictures and held it to get a better look. It was a little cat, just like the one he'd seen. This one, however, didn't look exactly the same. It wasn't blue. 

"I should thank you for getting me out, Lance. I probably wouldn't gotten out eventually but for this, time is of the essence. The aliens are going crazy for this... this weapon. I don't know what it does but they're saying it's the only thing that can take down this evil guy."

Lance re-pinned the picture on the board and stared at the cliffs in the picture. "Well we better find this weapon and get it out before they do!"

Keith looked at Lance oddly and said, "why keep it from them? How do you know who's good or not? You don't either side and what they stand for." Lance just stared at the guy and said, "no matter who's good or bad, a weapon will cause destruction. On both sides. We get the weapon, we keep it safe until we can pick a side, then we use it for what we think is right. It's that simple."

Keith choked down the urge to yell at this kid, then turned back to the board. "I can take you to the cliffs, and to the drawings, but I have no idea where to go from there." Lance shrugged and said "might as well give it a try."

\---

"So...these are the cliffs?" Lance seemed unimpressed. They had passed hundreds of cliffs just like these in the past half hour it took to get here. "Yeah, theses are the cliffs. This is where I found the drawings-" he pointed down to a hole that had been tucked away in the ground by nature, then hopped down to the next ledge to get there. Lance followed him down, around an outcropping, and into the hole and cave system. Lance couldn't help but gape at them all. They were so incredible, he could hardly believe one group ever did this. 

There had been Native Americans here since there were Native Americans, but these didn't look like the same style. Not to mention, they looked not a century old, even though the stones around them were worn beyond belief. Lance gingerly bushed away some of the dirt covering the markings when it began to glow. 

"Woah- oh!" He leaned back and watched the rest of the markings glow just like the first. There were images of circular, sun looking things, and action scenes of the lion. There was even one particularly large drawing of the lion eating some kind of space-elk while the people brandished their weapons to the sky. It was all so incredible. 

Breathily Keith said, "they've never done that before." Before either of them could react, the ground beneath their feet shook, and clouded their vision with dust. The ground shattered under them, while glowing the same blue. 

It threw them down a "chute" of water, both boys desperately making sure the rocks that were once beneath their feet, stayed there. Lance screamed unashamedly the whole way down, while Keith swore, and on the loud side. 

They landed, Lance first slamming down on his back, then because his torso hit so hard, that he was flipped onto his stomach. Keith landed flat on his back, and slammed his head. Lance sat up groggily, then pushed himself on to his knees. He was dripping in the two inches of water that now covered him, making the already chilled cave, icy. 

He looked up towards the blue glow emitting from the room to see a massive blue metal thing, with a glowing circle around it. "They are everywhere..." he said, mystified. Something inside him stirred, a desperation to go somewhere that he didn't know the location of. To do something worthwhile there. To go down in history. 

"Hey Keith, you seeing this? Keith?" Lance looked over at his parter and saw his head lolling back in the water. "Damnit..." Lance scrambled over on all fours to check for a pulse. It was going strong, so hopefully he was just knocked out. 

Lance dragged him out of the water and on to the stone floor so at least he didn't get water in his mouth. Then, after double and triple checking that Keith was still breathing, he looked towards the giant blue contraption. He watched the eyes follow him as he ran from side to side, then decided it was time he get closer to the thing. He wanted to call it a lion but in all honesty, it looked like any big cat, maybe he could call his a leopard? Or a jaguar? That would be cool. 

Lance was afraid to touch the energy bubble around whatever cat it was, terrified of the energy that could do something bad to him. Maybe it might shock him? Or blast him with lasers? Or trigger a bomb!

In one moment he just said "screw it-" and knocked. He wasn't sure why he did that, maybe as a way to contact whoever was inside, to show that he means no harm. He yelped when the eyes glowed brilliantly, then the shield dropped. The circular ring underneath the cat illuminated the entire cave. 

Lance couldn't help but stare at it with such wonder. He wasn't afraid, well he was but in a way that made him more excited than worried. An image flashed behind his eyes, showing him this cat, and four others flying in formation. A metal face appeared and looked at him, making Lance feel... powerful. He felt like he and the face had just had connected, like making an alliance with the most powerful team there ever was. 

Lance watched the body swing its sword before he began to notice the rocks on the walls again. He squinted through the wind that had just died down, and looked at the big cat once again. This thing was only one part of it. 

"Incredible..." Lance whipped around to see Keith, half conscious, staring at the robot. "You saw that too?" Lance asked, Keith nodded, then looked startled and shouted, "its moving!" 

He tired to stand up, but slipped and fell again. He couldn't regain any more consciousness, so he just gave in and let himself pass out again. Lance, however, had never felt more awake. As if a cold bucket of water had been dumped over his head (which, in essence it had). He remembered back to a time when he had gone into a casino with his cousin, the ones they pump full of oxygen, and this was what it felt like times a million. 

The big cat crouched down, and Lance stood his ground, smiling at the thing. It's mouth opened and revealed a gangplank to walk up. Lance had to refrain from saying, "don't mind if I do," out loud. Before he even took a step, a small groan came from Keith. Lance sighed and lifted the guy under his armpits and dragged him up into the ship. In the main control room, Lance set him down. He looked around and saw one lone chair, nothing like the ones at the garrison, and sat down. He leaned back as ease washed over him, then was flung forward with the chair. Something about this felt familiar, like muscle memory as he typed a code into the panel in front of him. The lion didn't like that. It roared in complaint and didn't do what Lance knew it should be doing. 

"Maybe I hit the wrong button..." Lance used the same code he somehow knew, and another roar. "Come on, man! What is it! You can tell me." 

He looked at Keith lying on the ground and saw a small sheath on his belt. He tried to look at Keith's face but his eyes were transfixed. "The knife? You don't like it? Why not?" 

Lance climbed out of the seat and knelt next to the unconscious pilot. He yanked the bland out of his sheath, and it extended into a long, very curvy, sword. It didn't look like one Lance had ever seen in his life, yet it felt familiar. Maybe the big cat knew what it was and was projecting its recognition onto Lance? 

He sighed and said, "fine. If it means that much to you, I'll put it outside." Lance took the sword and went back down to the mouth exit, then tossed the weapon into the cave. The sword skidded and scraped on the ground, before coming to a halt and wobbling in place slightly. 

Lance brushed his hands clean, then climbed back in. The lion seemed much more at ease, then allowed Lance to retype the code. The beast slammed through the cliff face, then waited for Lances control. He barely knew the controls enough to keep them from crashing into anything, but after a moment, he began to recognize the different levers and buttons. 

"Let's try...this." He put both hands on joysticks, then shoved them foreword. The thing flew beautifully, eliciting a "this is awesome!" from Lance. He finally got control when he decided to do something even though he wasn't sure of the reason. 

Groggy Keith had been sliding around behind Lance on the ground, and just decided to yell, "you are the worst pilot ever! Would you stop doing that!"

Lance shook his head and said, "at least you're awake! Anyway, I can't do that, im not doing anything. It's like it's on autopilot!"

The ship activated thrusters and began to shoot them upwards. "Where are you going?" "I just said it's on autopilot!" Keith managed to stand up and grip the seat for dear life as they shot upwards. "It says there's an alien ship approaching. I think it wants us to stop it!" 

"What'd it say exactly?" "Well it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of." 

Keith looked terrified, mostly about trusting a pilot who had never flown an actual craft, to fly some high tech super-weapon. "If this thing is the weapon, will they come for us or the planet? If we get away, will they still attack earth?"

"These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead. They might leave it alone for now, but it's a shot in the dark. They might obliterate the Garrison and everything for a three hundred mile radius, or they might ignore it and follow us. I don't know."

Lance watched as they broke through the atmosphere and saw a massive space ship, beyond anything that humans could build, all lit up purple. "Uh... Holy shit! Is that really an alien ship?" 

He heard Keith mutter, "they found me..." before yelling, "We've got to get it out of here!" Purple beams shot out of the ship aiming right for them, as Lance desperately tried to avoid getting them both killed. "Let's try..." Lance pulled one joystick back slightly, then pushed the other one as far as it would go. The lion spun midair, and blasted one line down the side of the ship, leaving a trail of explosions where machinery was breaking. 

A triumphant laugh escaped his mouth, and on his confidence high he swooped down and used the sharp claws on his cats feet to swipe another line, again, in the ship. It crippled the ship, which had stopped firing lasers, and Keith yelled, "Nice job Lance! Let's get out of here!" 

They flew off and Lance let the lion tell him what to do and how to get where it wanted to go. The ship, luckily enough, followed the pair away from earth. "They're gaining on us." Keith said, looking at the monitors that Lance couldn't reach. The b-class sensors. 

"It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us. Keith pointed out. "They're just chasing."  
Lance, however, was not so calm about this. "Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this." 

Keith ignored that statement to ask, "Where are we?" Lance shook his head and said, "you tell me. This is my first time in space." Keith stared at the asteroids around them and, with a gasp said, "we're at the edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos." 

Lance turned around to look at Keith. "It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds!" 

Both boys jumped when a giant swirling vortex appeared in front of them. "What is that?" Keith asked, before climbing back to the seat and grabbing on to lances shoulder for dear life. "Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the Lion wants us to go through there!" Keith looked at Lance like a startled deer in the headlights. "Through that? It's certain death!"

"Whatever is happening, the Lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it!" Keith shook his head at Lance and said, "this is a really bad idea!" before the cat plunged into the vortex, while carrying two screaming boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short and basically all canon, except for a few parts. Luckily, chapter three will be up in a matter of days. Rip @ kieth lmao
> 
> LEAVE ME COMMENTS I LIVE FOR THEM EVEN IF THEYRE JUST SAYING HI I WILL LOVE YOU AND CHERISH YOU IM SO DESPERATE FOR HUMAN CONACT KILL MEEEEEEEE


	3. Welcome Back to Reality

"Where are we?" Lance asked, staring wide-eyed at the new surroundings. They walked off the lion and looked up at the looming castle in front of them. The creature stepped back and roared at the two doors facing the boys. 

The doors slid open to reveal a massive foyer. "I think this is his home." Lance said, before the two of them shared a glance, then went back to staring at the dark entryway. They walked through slowly, and looked around at the walls, all white with weird looking decorations. 

"The lion is massive. Why are these steps so small?" Keith asked, looking at Lance like he had answers. "I have no idea." Lance said, before looking at the lights that were just flickering on. Up ahead the hallway was beginning to be lit up. "Shall we continue?" Lance asked, before taking the steps, two at a time, towards the newly lit hallway. 

The pair walked for a long while before coming across a room. "It looks like a control room..." Keith watched a symbol draw itself on some display, and a tube rise through the floor. Five of them, actually. 

Lance watched one open, revealing a beautiful girl. She had a dark complexion and hair the color of fresh snow. She had two tufts frame her eyes underneath them, with little pink marks paralleling the hair strands. She wore a blue and yellow dress to match her headpiece, and dangling purple earrings. Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of blue, full of terror. 

"Father!" She reached out but almost fell flat on her face. Lance, in instinct, reached out and grabbed her. "Hello," she clutched on to Lance, still in a daze. "Where am I? Who are you?" Lance smiled at her and said, "don't worry, I'm Lance and you're right here in the castle."

She looked at him and he could see the consciousness coming back to her. He stood her up, as she said, "your ears? What's wrong with them?"

Lance tried to look at his ears, then realized and looked back at the girl. "Nothings wrong with them? They heard exactly what you said about them!

She laughed, for a split second, then realized what was going on. She grabbed Lances arm and whipped him around. She put one arm around his neck and one into his back. 

"Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?" Lance could feel a shooting pain where the princess was digging her arm into his shoulder blades. "A giant blue lion brought us here, that's all we know!"

"How do you have the blue lion? What happened to its paladin?" She look at Keith, then back at Lance, before releasing him. "How are you here? Unless... how long has it been?"

"We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are, maybe we can help." The girl looked at Keith, the source of the voice, and Lance, then looked at the ground as if deciding if she could trust them. With pride, she shone and said "I am princess Allura of planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are, and how long we've been asleep." She dropped Lance and rushed over to a control panel, then put both hands on it to bring the screen to life. 

Another tube opened to reveal an orange hair, mustachioed male. "Enemy combatants!" He jumped at Lance who casually sidestepped, then watched the man crash to the ground. "Ah quiznak! You're lucky I have of a case of the old sleep chamber knees!"

"Coran, come help me open the other chambers!" He eyed Lance, then shakily walked over to the princess. "You trust these two?" She nodded earnestly. "They have the blue lion. They passed the security scans too, I trust them."

Coran, who lance guessed was the orange haired guy, went to go help the princess by putting his hands on one of the three control panels. "Oh my god!" Allura turned to the man, "Coran, we've been asleep for 10,000 years!"

Alluras mind raced back to the last day before the kingdom fell. King Alfor stared at the image of his old friend Zarkon plastered up on the screen. 

Zarkon spoke in his metallic voice, "Your fleet has been destroyed, Alfor. I will be there shortly to claim Voltron." The walls and castle shook as it took the brunt of another attack. Zarkons connection to the castle disappated and left the screen blank. 

"Father, we must form Voltron and fight before it's too late!" Allura was in a panic, listening to everything outside being destroyed. 

Shiro spoke, with the same level of urgency, "It's already too late. We must send the lions away. We can't risk them falling into Zarkon's hands." 

"We can't give up hope!" Pidge screamed, hitting buttons on the console rapidly, and gripping the table next to them for dear life. "I'm sorry, daughter. If all goes well, I will see you again soon." King Alfor gingerly touched his daughters shoulders, and stiffened. 

Pidge screamed in anger, as another blast shook the castle. After this one, Hunk ran through the door. "Sire, your left fleet is severely damaged. We can't take much more of this!" Hunk fell over as yet another blast shook the castle. Coran ran over to another panel and started typing furiously. "Sire, we must send the lions away. It's the only way to keep them safe." Shiro said, then reached out to grab Alluras shoulder, just as a reassurance but she pulled away. "Please... we can't!" 

"We must keep the people safe" King Alfor said, looking to Coran for help. 

"Who keeps us safe?" Pidge roared, ripping their eyes away from the panel. "We have to fight, sire! We'll die, along with the rest of Altea if we don't!" Allura looked to her dad, pleading him to fight. "Father!" He placed a kiss on her head and said, "I love you." Then the memory faded. 

Allura began to sob. "Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization... Zarkon." 

Keith gasped, but in seeing Lance glance at him, he turned his attention back to the mourning pair. Slowly another pod opened and a heavy-set man with a kind face, and rough hands, stepped out. He immediately fell to his knees and called for help, then a moment later said, "wait nope i'm good, were fine." 

"Hunk! Thank goodness!" Allura rushed over and hugged him, ignoring the fact that he could barely stand. He was taller than Lance or Keith, with arms that ended around his knees. He looked like a statue made of stone, with triangle ears, that had come to life and pierced them. 

The other two chambers opened right after, pouring out another Altean man, tall with light skin and thin eyes, not to mention red markings on his cheeks like the ones the other two had. He had a stern face, but he didn't look mean. He slipped slightly coming out, and grabbed the wall for assistance, then straightened himself up a moment later. Stoic silence seemed to be his middle name, as he didn't say anything until he was directly addressed. 

The last pod opened to reveal a small kid who was light green, with army green hair (head?) that was pointing up and back. The kids eyes were a deep purple, reminding Lance of the color of the crocuses that used to grow outside the Garrison head quarters in the spring time. They probably didn't have those all the way out here. 

They all had their reunion, then the ones who just exited were informed that their entire civilization was no more. Lance and Keith stood off to the side, feeling intrusive into this moment that the aliens were having. "It was all Zarkon. He did this." Allura looked to the two earthlings as if for confirmation. Lance shrugged but Keith stepped up. 

"He was the King of the Galra." He said directly to Lance, "A vile creature and enemy to all free people. I remember him... I was his prisoner." Allura and her group looked devastated, after realizing what had happened. "He's still alive? Impossible!" 

"I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron. Is that the blue lion we came here in?" Coran nodded and let Shiro take over. "He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

"Don't we already have it? The lion is here, in the castle!" Lance looked to the group, and felt horribly incompetent. He was the only one here that didn't seem to know anything about what was going on. Yet again, he was just the clueless pilot. 

"It's not that simple. There's five lions of Voltron, they all connect to form one, just like their paladins must. They were scattered in the universe when Altea fell, and we already have the blue one. The black lion remained here in the castle, and can only be unlocked if the other four are here." Shiro looked to Coran, who walked over to the controls and pulled up a map. Lance was the only one to gaze at it in amazement, watching Coran swipe his fingers through it and having the image change. 

"As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain." Allura spoke as she looked around the room at her team and smiled. "We have three space-trained pilots, and I believe two new ones. Will you two join us, in bringing justice to Altea?"

Lance looked startled, as if not ready to be asked to join a space revenge party. Keith, on the other hand, looked prepared but unhappy. "I will." he said, "but I don't know if your lion will have me-" instinctively, he rested his hand on his sheath, and found his knife missing. "Wha- you!" Keith whirled around and pointed at Lance. "You fu- you stole it!" Keith launched at Lance and got one solid hit in, knocking him to the ground. Lance landed hard, with a loud "oof!" Keith climbed on top of him and began to pummel the other Earthling. "What did you do with it?" He gripped lances face in his hand, now puffy and coated in blood from the obviously broken nose. "I left it in the cave!" 

Keith was yanked off Lance by Shiro and Hunk, literally kicking and screaming. "What the hell do you mean you left it in the cave!" Spit was flying from Keith's mouth. He was blinded by rage, and knew what situation this put him in. "You had no right-" 

"Stop it!" The strong guy, Shiro, yelled. "What are you talking about?" Keith still remained in their grasp, but had stopped thrashing. "My knife! He left it in the cave where we found the blue lion. He had no right to touch my stuff while I was unconscious!" 

Lance was being helped up by Coran, who had just handed him a cloth to wipe the swelling mess that was his nose. "Blue wouldn't fly! I tried to but she kept pointing me to your knife! What was I supposed to do?" "Leave me behind!" 

Lance stormed over to where Keith was being held and the hands on him tensed, ready to stop him from pouncing. "You'd rather be abandoned unconscious in a cave filled with magical and unknown symbols, that had just caved in at the touch of my hand, than be without a knife? You're out of your mind!"

"It has importance!" "You know what else has importance? The universe! This Zardon-Zarkon? Whatever his name is- guy seems bad, and he hasn't gotten wiser with age! Keith he tried to kill us! Like dead, kill us, and you're mad at me?" 

Keith yanked on his captors, unable to contain the rage he felt. "It doesn't matter who tried to hurt us! You had no right!" "I had no right? You have no right! You weren't even able to find the lion without me! You'd still be in the Garrison holding cells if it wasn't for me, so you're freaking welcome!" Lance stared at the guy, then turned away in disgust. He sighed and wiped another clot of blood off his cheek, before Keith shouted something that struck a nerve deep down inside Lance. 

"You don't deserve to be here. You're just a cargo pilot on a lucky streak." Lance roared and threw the fabric square on the ground. Before anyone could stop him, Lance swung at Keith. The two holding him, dropped him in surprise. The two Earth boys went down, screaming profanity and insults alike. Lance landed on Keith first, and stratled his rib cage, then pounded Keith face as mercilessly as he could muster. He didn't really want to hurt him, it was something of honor. Like winning this means he wasn't just a cargo pilot. Like he deserved to be here. 

Keith yanked his arm out from under Lances knee, and managed to shove him to the side. Keith rolled over and hit Lance again. He hit him two or three more times, each hit doing more damage than Lance had done the entire time he was on Keith. The two space guys, Hunk and Shiro, screamed at Keith, trying to yank his arm back, but he still managed to kick Lance while being pulled. He got free of Shiros grip and pulled his arm back to hit Lance with everything he had, when he paused and really looked at Lance. 

A memory surfaced in his head of Matt. The poor kid. They had the same scared and determined look in their eyes. He remembered Matt's face when he died, the soft "please..." right before Keith killed him. The blood. The eyes. 

Keith's head exploded in pain and he fell off of Lance, screaming through clenched teeth. "Gaaaaaah! Ah!" He writhed in agony on the ground and no one, especially Lance, had any idea what to do. Lance was too shellshocked to react for more than ten seconds, when he finally realized what had happened. 

"Keith? Hey what the hell?" Lance looked over, then struggled to his hands and knees to grab Keith's cheek. "Hey! What's wrong!" 

Keith stopped abruptly, he just laid there, completely out of breath. "Please..." he croaked. "Do it... you can do it...." 

His voice changed. "No! Matt, I won't do it!" It switched back to the first one. "Look, we have no other choice. They'll put us against each other, and I have nothing on earth left for me. You have less than I do, but you also have a chance to move up in this competition and join the ranks. Hell, you're even allowed to join under normal circumstances. Me... well no matter what, this won't end well."

Keith's eyes were milky white, even his pupils and irises. Lance just realized he didn't even know what color they were before. He hadn't paid much attention, and now he might never know. Pidge, the green one, had run over to one of the consoles and was running tests, while Coran and Hunk prepared a chamber for Keith to heal in. 

"Matt please. Please don't make me...I won't be able to do it. You've been the only thing here keeping me sane." Voice two said, extremely shaky. "I believe in you, Keith," voice one said, "you'll make it out of here." Keith took a shaky breath, and in voice two said "I don't know if I want to without you, Matt. I-" 

Keith's eyes went lifeless, but quickly returned to their normal blue. Lance frantically felt for a pulse, and found a faint one. "He's still alive!" Lance announced, and let Coran take him into the pod he had been preparing. Lance guessed those were healing pods, or at least something that keeps you alive, like it did with the other space dudes from 10,000 years ago. 

Shiro helped Coran lift Keith, mostly because Lance couldn't stand for more ham two seconds without needing something to lean on. His head was pounding. He couldn't explain why he was upset, this guy was a strange asshole that brought him to a lion that'll get him killed in the near future. This guy was danger, but he was the only connection to earth Lance had. He was Garrison. He was Lances age. He was human. Hell, who knows, if Keith had made it back on that mission, or stayed in school, they could've friends. Lance cursed hinself for all hose nights he spent alone, beyond thankful that Keith got lost, and was the only reason Lance made this program. 

Keith didn't tell him much, like why he wanted that knife, but Lance trusted him wholeheartedly, even more so because Keith had no reason to feel threatened by Lance. Keith wasn't someone who told a lot of things to a lot of people, but he already had Lance invested. God damn it. 

Lance felt another wave of dizziness wash over him, and he heard Allura speak again. "Are humans always this weird?" Lance managed to get out a "pretty much," without fainting, which was a success. 

The others rushed around and yelled to each other. "What's going on?" Lance asked the stone-colored guy closest to him. The one they called Hunk. 

"There's a Galra ship about to enter the Arusian atmosphere. That's where we are now, and we're able to hold them off for a little while, but not long. We need to find the lions, quickly." Lance nodded and said, "Blue is here. Black is here. Where are the others?" "That's what we're working on." 

Lance watched the green kid leap out of their chair and run to the door while shouting, "I found green! Shiro? Come with?" "Of course. Hunk, you take Lance and his lion, when he's...back up to speed, and go find yours. Allura, you guys have the castle?" 

Allura looked up desperately but nodded all the same. She had an odd gleam in her eyes that Lance couldn't pinpoint, but it wasn't good. "Go. Don't get hurt."

Shiro had a small ripple of humor pass over his face. "No promises." Allura had a tight smile on her lips when he left with Pidge, then got back to work. 

"Let me help." Lance stumbled around the table to the center of the room. "Please I can't be useless I-" Lance faltered. There wasn't anything for him to do right now, and it was killing him. He was too far behind everyone, including Keith, he could never catch up. 

"Found it! Here's your chance to help. I really hope you're a good pilot, I was never a big fan of space travel." Hunk had such a warm smile, lance couldn't help but shrug, and say "i'm getting there." Hunk sighed with a, "good enough for me. Allura, Coran, we'll be back soon."

"You better. Stay safe you two." Allura smiled in a very maternal way at Hunk and Lance, before Coran nodded his approval for them to leave. 

Lance needed a little bit of help getting to the lion, but found it to be fine when he sat down. In fact, he felt a little bit better when he was shot forward into position. "Is there any way to get a second seat on this thing?" Lance muttered to himself, as the lion began to come online. 

Sure enough, the lion directed his attention to the small level on the farthest right side of the control area. "Hey Hunk? If you flip that switch I think there's a chair." He did it and a copilots chair sprung up from the ground. "Nice!" Hunk cheered, before sitting in the chair and leaning back slightly. 

"Alright here we go!" Lance pushed the joysticks and the lion took off. They shot through the wormhole Coran had made, and reemerged right in the center of a Galra fleet. "Oh quiznak!" Hunk screamed, gripping onto Lances chair for safe measure. "Here we go!" 

Lance shot them through the fleet, and managed to dodge half the explosives yet still more came. They dipped into a canyon on the planet these ships called home, mostly to get the bigger ships of their track, but the majority could fit in the chasm with ease. His mind flashed back to their old team, Winta, Nola, and him. Things were so much simpler two days ago. 

He yelled to Hunk, "do you feel it around here?" To which Hunk replied, "it's up ahead. You can just drop me you don't have to stop!" Lance saw twenty Galra ships chasing him and said, "tell me when to get close to the ground, and tell me when to release you. This all on you buddy!" 

The guy nodded super seriously, then managed his way to the exit part of the floor. He seemed to be inexperienced, and Lance couldn't help but wonder if this was his first time he was directly shot at. "Do you know how you survive this?" Lance tried to use words to calm his new partner. He turned around and looked at Hunk, then continued his speech, "you fight for it." 

Hunk looked at Lance for two seconds, then yelled, "now!" He went rolling towards an open mineshaft, leaving Lance to draw Galra attention upwards. He spun in the canyon, and blasted one of the closest ships. "Take that, asshole!" Lance flew towards them, and grabbed one in the lions mouth, then used it to take out three more by ramming them into each other. Five more appeared over the horizon, just as he watched Hunk get into the mineshaft safely. Lance smirked and took out three more ships like he was built for it. 

"Ack!" He yelped in surprise when a ship came from out of nowhere and blasted his lion so hard, it did a barrel roll. Lance clutched the seat for dear life, then screamed when the cruiser got closer to the entrance. 

"No!" He yelled, desperately firing at the ships, but it was too late. The missile launched, and the mountain caved in. Lance stared at the hill, frozen in place. Hunk was down there, and probably stuck under all the rubble. 

Lane couldn't feel his fingers. It was an odd sensation. He was aware of them, but they were frozen in place. He knew that he could never go back to the group alive, without Hunk, so he turned the lion around. He'd die here, because Hunk did. Some weird force in his mind said that he wasn't allowed to leave without a scratch, and if he even made it out, to be basically an inch from death. The survivors guilt already saturated his senses, especially because he promised Hunk before they left that he'd always have his back. 

Lance COULDNT survive this. 

Lance took out two more ships with his laser, but was quickly backed into a corner. Lance tried to fight his way out, but the seven ships, who's number was growing by the minute, were boxing him in. "I'm sorry!" Lance screamed through tears of nerves and self-hatred, their hot, wet trails sizzling on his skin. 

"I'm sorry I failed you, we never even worked as a team!" One ship taken down as another three soared in over the horizon. "I'm sorry I-" he gulped." I'm sorry I killed you Hunk!" Who was he yelling to? A blast sent the lion flying into the stone wall next to him, and was buried in rubble. Lance broke free of the pile, then stared down the other ships. He pushed all his energy towards shooting Galra, while screaming until his voice cracked. He took down ten, about half the ships, before being blasted back towards the walls. The lion was crying with him. 

"We... we have to fight," Lance pleaded with the lion, that was so damaged a leg could barely move, and was barely hanging on to its tail. "Please! For Hunk!" The lion didn't move from under the second rubble pile until it was blasted out by the Galra. Lances mind ran wild. They... stopped? 

Before they hit the lions exoskeleton, the laser stopped. Just enough for blue to shake herself free, and hover pitifully next to a new fighter in the mix. 

Hunks screams of joy echoed over the intercom in blue, as he destroyed the remaining ships. Lance shook off his surprise and yelled too. "Hunk! You made it out!" 

"Well yeah it wasn't hard after I got to my lion. They can just slam through walls, isn't that cool? What this lacks in speed, it more than makes up for in armor. Man, can it take a beating! I've never driven a ship that can just obliterate stone like this!" Lance grinned ear to ear, until he spotted more Galra reappearing. "Ooh. We've got incoming!" Hunk said, turning to face them. "How are they multiplying like this?" Lance cried, when Hunk shouted, "to the wormhole!"

They soared through it, and back to the castle to see the green lion parked on its deck with the others. When they got back to the bridge, they were greeted with happy faces. Allura greeted both of them and said, "you made it."

"Yeah, just barely. That was a nightmare. I almost puked out there." Lance crossed his arms just to accurately show his distaste for the situation. Hunk chose this moment to pipe in, "For the record I did puke out there. I know the teams supposed to share secrets, and that's mine." 

Lance patted him on the shoulder solemnly and said, "that must've been hard. I'm proud of you." Shiro drew attention away from the pair of them, and said, "have we located the red lion yet?"

Coran spoke, "Allura just located it. There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is, it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We're Arus!" He winked at Lance, because he explained where they were, even though he treated it like they'd just shared a good laugh. 

"They're here already?" Shiro looked at the group around him worriedly. Hunk stepped up again and began to speak."We're not ready! We only have four lions!" "Technically, only three working lions." "That's right. Thank you, Pidge. Three working lions and a castle that's, like, 10,000 years old. Shiro right, we aren't prepared to fight!" 

"Actually, the castle 10,600 years old. You see, it was built by my grandfather-" Hunk sighed and said, "thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!" Lance loved this. He was observing trained fighters in a high stress moment. It was like a dream come true, with all this drama. He could barely feel how badly his head was throbbing, with the extremely loud sounds, and the rough near death experiences not really helping. Or the blood now uncomfortably sticky and caked into his cheeks, and it even went as far as to pool in the slight collar bone indent Lance had. 

"Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate." Allura smiled at her own realization. Lance, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to make a joke, said, "Girl, you've already activated my par-"

"Lance!" Shiro held out a hand, and made this face that twisted his stomach. It was a face of "seriously?" Almost like Lance had just hit a cat crossing the street or something. It was sharp and piercing. Jeez the dude could use his face. 

"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day." Regardless of a 180 degree switch in personality, the space group actually took what he said seriously. Lance hated that he was saying this, but knew that it would give the group an answer. Either everyone agrees and the group leaves, or everyone argues Lance and they stay. Everyone works better with a common enemy. "I second that. Yes. I mean, we tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have three. We can't form Voltron. I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance, that you were talking about." Hunk slapped a hand on his shoulder, which almost buckled his knees. Still not helping the injury. 

"Pidge shook their head and said, "We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them." Lance turned away and smiled. He would be on the front lines. He and the lion he loved so dearly. It would be freaking awesome. A literal dream come true. 

"Alright team, but first. Armor and weapons."

The team followed Allura to the deck and inspected their respective armor, each paladin choosing the color that matched the lion that had chosen them. Lance excitedly got his on, and felt it shifting and moving beneath his fingers. The original suit was too short and a hair too wide, but by the time it was on, was as snug as could be. 

While he was admiring the blue and white suit he had just received, he overheard coran mumbling to the Princess, "are you sure about this? They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer." Allura sighed and said, "No, but they're all we've got."

Allura turned to face the other four pilots, and said "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin."

Lance, along with the other Voltron pilots, picked up his color-assigned bayard. He inspected the handle, and jumped when it shifted to a long range sniper rifle. "Awesome!" He exclaimed, before peering through the scope at his teammates. "I've never fired a gun before!" 

The others seemed unphased, also picking up their specific bayards. Hunk yelled out a "yeeeeah!" as his large gun formed in his grip. Pidge grinned when the green bayard took the form of a knife that wrapped around their hand. Shiro smiled at the intense axe that enlongated in his grasp, before looking to allura. 

"I'm sorry, a-about the bayard...that is." Allura gave him a smile in pity, then turned back to her team. "As you've figured out, each lion has a unique personality and will chose a paladin who values the same traits. Sometimes, the lions chose a pilot who lacks those qualities, but values them most. This is a sacred bond."

The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. As your leader, I will do my best to live up to this, and lead you without hesitation." 

She turned to Pidge, then spoke again. "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. It takes a pilot humble, and willing to learn from others to pilot this lion. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion." She gave Pidge a prideful smile, which Pidge gladly returned. "The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together. Hunk, you will pilot the yellow lion." 

Hunk grinned, and looked to the ground, almost embarrassed. She put both hands on his shoulders and smiled softly, which he graciously returned. "The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Shiro, you will fly the red lion." 

She said this with a look to Shiro, even less friendly than she had when she realized Lance had caught her. Why did she say the word unstable with such a conviction?

"The blue lion," she turned to Lance, who was inspecting his rifle. "Is the most observant. It takes a pilot truly aware of the room they're in to fly, someone who is willing to be flexible for the good of others. Unbiased, and a naturally good moderator, Lance, you will pilot the blue lion."

Lance felt a hint of shame, being openly praised like that. He was all of those things, yes, but that didn't make it less embarrassing to be complimented so genuinely. He softened his face when he saw Alluras smile, very similar to the one she gave Hunk, then looked to the team and realized. There were six pilots, and five lions. 

"What about Keith? I don't know that guy, but he's the best pilot Earths ever known. He'll be peeved when he finds out." Lance looked at his weapon, waiting for a discussion that never happened. "What?" He looked at the pairs of eyes that shared quick glances. 

Allura shook her head and said, "Nothing. We'll figure out a good job for him when he wakes. Right now, we have to get aboard the ship circling Arus. While you were gone we tracked the lion. It's on that Galra ship."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um y'all are about it call me the FUCK OUT because I basically switched Keith and shiro in this fic LMAOOOOOO
> 
> Anywho, this chapter is weird and doesn't really make sense. I also just like threw Keith in a chamber because I don't want to deal with him right now. Like this chapter really is such a mess. Idk why I had them fistfight straight off the bat but like I did and ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm a Mess™
> 
> To conclude; i'm a piece of shit. I also had Lance say freakin but y'all know I meant fuckin. Happy ides of March you nerds


	4. Oh shit, do I have chapter titles on the other ones??? I didn't prepare a title rip @ me

"The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lion, but they don't know we have the Green Lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up." Alluras voice echoed in Lances head, as they approached the Galra craft. 

"Attention, Galra ship. Do not fire. We're surrendering our lions." Lance dropped his confident facade and mumbled to himself, "Hope this works."

"While Sendak is distracted, Shiro, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Shiro and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon." Allura spoke calmly over the intercom, just making Lance feel even more childish for being terrified. There was so much pressure on him, one wrong move and everyone dies. 

"Pidge, what's your ETA?" Hunk asked, when Pidge replied "We're in." Pidge and their team slipped through the defenses, then began their part when hunk yelled, "What's that thing?"

Lance, after seeing... some type of laser warming up, screamed, "I think that's our signal to get out of here!" The two yellow and blue paladins cleared the pathway of the tractor beam just in time for Sendak to get angry. "Hunk, you dismantle the ion cannon while I take these jerks on a space ride!" "Ten-four!"

Lance screamed in excitement and fear as galra attack ships poured from the docking bay. He couldn't help but feel shaken, and it took all of his willpower to hunch down low to the controls, and whisper, "Let's do this."

\--

"Allura, we must talk about what happened before this mission gets harder. You can barely look at me!" Pidge fiddled with a control panel on the opposite side of the hallway, knowing that the couple would need the time to discuss... what happened. 

"What's to be talked about. You fought by my fathers side for so long, only to swipe the rug from beneath him." Allura kept her eyes locked on the ground. "I can't bear to look at you because, well because you're selfish. You'll side with the highest bidder."

Shiro grasped her upper arm tightly, and as an act of defiance, she clenched her arm as much as it would allow. "I never planned on betraying him. I never planned on betraying you. I told you, I was part of their group, yes, but it was not an anti-Alfor group. It was anti-voltron. They were afraid of the power it yields. I thought it was dangerous, and I knew as a member of the high court I'd be able to do something about it."

He let go of her arm, and dropped all tension in his body, as a sign of giving up. "I know this marriage is not what you wanted. Luckily for you, there's nobody here to enforce it. We don't have to stay together anymore." Allura looked up at him with fire in her eyes. "You know that's not what I wa-" "We're clear!" 

Shiro and Allura looked up to see Pidge closing the metal coverings, and running towards the pair. "What'd I miss?" Shiro shot them a look of "don't mention it," then Allura spoke. "Shiro, tell us where to go. What feels right?"

Shiro looked at her in shock, and with a dash of disbelief. "I'm supposed to know?" Pidge shrugged and said "you should. You're the best suited for the red lion." 

"Remember, the red lion is extremely temperamental. You'll have to earn its trust." Shiro nodded to Allura, looked left, then right, then left again. "This is pointless. I have no idea. Let's just go right." Pidge shrugged and said, "works for me," but Allura was not as happy. She begrudgingly held her tongue, and followed the group. 

\--

"What the quiznak? Is that a forcefield?" Hunk glanced briefly at Lances lion, who was dancing between ten galra ships, taking down very few of them. "No idea-" Lance was cut off by another blast to his lion. His voice was so strained, Hunk felt a twinge of sympathy for the paladin in the line of fire, then focused all his attention on blasting down this barrier. 

\--

The group actualy in the ship sprinted down three hallways, when they heard footsteps of soldiers passing by. They were right in the middle of the hallway the soldiers were marching down, so Pidge and Allura turned around and hid down the hallway they had come through, and Shiro, who was leading the pack, hid on the farther side. 

A handful of soldiers turned to their right, and began to march down the hallway Shiro was in. Allura squeaked in fear, but Pidge covered her mouth. "He's alright. This is Shiro, you're worried about." Pidges reassuring whisper didn't set Allura at ease by any means, but at least she wasn't about to blow their cover. 

Shiro could hear them coming, and darted down a different hallway. Luckily, they continued on the way they were going, which wasn't where Shiro was, and allowed him to take a short lived moment of triumph. He looked up at where he was, a crossroads of sorts, with the hallway he was in perpendicular to another hallway with a symbol on the wall that glowed bright purple. 

He didn't pay it much thought, and charged down the hallway to the left. When he appeared at the same symbol again, he had to double checked he was in the same place. He knew for a fact, that he hadn't gone backwards. He ran down the straight hallway, and ended up back at the same place. He could see the same dent in the wall he had brushed against when he was catching his breath the first time. "Aright..." he thought aloud. "What would Allura do? She'd tell me to be patient. To stay focused." 

Shiro closed his eyes and felt a tugging in his gut. If anyone asked, it would be impossible to tell them what he'd felt. It was instinctual. It was like that time he was in a training simulation, and an air droid was launched at him. He hadn't been paying attanetion but something pulled his head up, and all there was in his vision was a flash of the droid, and next thing he knew it was in the ground behind him. His body wasn't controlled, it knew just what to do. That's what it felt like. Like the flash of the droid in his vision. 

"Got ya..." he mumbled to himself, then ran the opposite direction of that symbol. 

Finally, Shiro found the room the lion was in. A giant red glow surrounded the lion, as he ran up to it. "C'mon buddy. Time to go. It's me, Shiro." The lion didn't budge. In fact, it didn't even acknowledge that Shiro, the one it had called to, was in the room. "It's me! Shiro, your - I am your paladin!" 

Shiro felt a laser blast his back, so he whipped around while pulling out his shield. In a desperate attempt to get the lion to drop the force field, he began shouting again. "I'm bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We're connected!"

He gave up on the lion, assuming that it was someone else's. Maybe Allura wasn't meant to have the black lion, maybe she was the red lions pilot, even though it had called Shiro to it. Through a grunt, Shiro yelled to his attackers, "You're not getting this lion!" 

Shiro charged the Galra foot soldiers, as his bayard activated. He shoved one with his shield, and sliced the legs out from under the next one closest. He looked up and saw a dozen more charging him, then desperately hit the eject button. The soldiers went flying out as he dropped his hand shield, and grabbed on for dear life while every loose object went flying out into space. He held the control panel with heverything he had, and even that couldn't stop the piece of debris that hit him and knocked him out into space. 

Shiro panicked for a moment, then closed his eyes. He had a working com, and he wasn't being fired at. He might just survive this yet, even if the lion didn't take him, they could bring down the ship and rescue it from the rubble. Shiro was devastated, regardless. He failed his team, this was his only job. 

Shiro opened his eyes just in time to be swallowed by the lion. When he was dropped in the pilots seat, and slid foreword to the controls, he couldn't stop himself from saying "Good kitty... let's roll."

\--

Hunk, while screaming, "come on break! You stupid thing!" and with one final blast, took down the ion shield. "Score one for Hunk!" Lance screamed, while ramming his lion into the cannon. The metal contorted like putty under his lion. Hunk watched the other two lions shoot out from the side of the ship, and called out, "you made it!"

"Let's get out of here." Shiro said, leading he pack with his red lion. "Agreed." said Lance, who had pulled to a stop next to Hunk. They all raced to the castle again, desperate to unlock the black lion. 

When docked, the lions eyes began to glow. All four lions colors, appeared on the screen before Allura, who had raced out of the green lion the second she was docked. She nervously chewed at her finger nails, as the lions colors formed a star, with the top point missing. 

With a loud hissing sound, a black circle drew itself in front of Allura, who's face lit up in joy. Lance watched her closely though all of this. She looked so much like Winta, it made Lances chest ache. Her eyes held the same weight, and expressed each emotion the exact same way. They were practically the same, minus Alluras white hair and blue eyes. He felt something in his stomach, watching her face shift from agony to relief, something that was a mix of homesickness and nerves. He had to remind himself that Allura was NOT Winta, and will never be the same, but it was hard watching the smile grow on her face the same way it always did. 

She walked down to the docking station and stood in front of the chamber the black lion was in. The castle was easily big enough to have all five lions in the same place, with four staring at the door for their leader. It hissed and began to open, revealing the black lions hard exterior. 

It roared, and was followed closely by the roars of the other lions, before the alarms bathed the hallway in red. "Princess!" Coran screamed over the com, "Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere!" 

Allura climbed into her lion, gripped her controls, then said, "we need Voltron, now!" Her lion roared again, then took off, followed by the other four lions. They all flew outside, then landed shoulder to shoulder on the ground. 

Sendaks ion cannon, which was back online, hit the castle. All Lance could see was the flames that ignited in the particle barrier. The ground shook and the lions were thrown off their feet in no particular direction. "They repaired the cannon! The barrier will hold us for now, but I don't know how much longer it'll last!" Allura screamed through the com, then Coran said the same thing again, "we need Voltron!"

"Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?" Allura had lava dripping from her words, and fire, running through her veins. "Let's do this!" 

Lance gripped his controls as another blast almost knocked out the barrier. They began to charge as a unit. "How?" Lance shouted, which Shiro responded, "Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?" 

Hunk angrily yelled, "I don't see a "combine into giant robot" button anywhere on my dashboard." Naturally, Pidge yelled in rage, then said "This is insane! Can't they just cease fire for one minute so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?" They stopped running with the team, and took out two galra fighters. 

Lance stopped to watch and shouted, "We've got to do something!" "Combine!" Hunk slammed his robot into Lances, to which he yelled, "hey!" but the shout was more in surprise than anything else. "Okay, that didn't work."

"Quickly, Paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!" Coran shouted from the control room, slapping buttons as fast as he could to divert all energy to the barrier. 

"Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll just combine?" Shiro offered, to which Allura said, "Might work. Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!" They flew for almost thirty seconds when Shiro yelled, "Nothing's happening!" 

Lance, however felt like he was losing control of his lion. "Hey, wait, wait, wait! I feel something!" "I do, too. I feel it. It's like we're all being pulled in the same direction!" 

Shiro sighed and said, "Uh, guys, I think I know why. Look up." A bright purple tractor beam had latched on to the group, and was beginning to bring them up. Each paladin fought the beam by hitting any controls they could, with no success. 

"I-I don't care what you guys say. I'm panicking now!" The other paladins began to panic, but Lance felt only sadness. His life had just begun to mean something, and he'd failed so badly he would die. He wasn't afraid to die, he was sad he couldn't do more first. How much his life had changed, that he had to accept his own death twice in twenty four hours, and accept the guilt of killing a person he considered a teammate, and a friend. "It can't end here" Pidge screamed, followed by Shiros, "This is it!" 

Lance couldn't say how much this meant to him. How much flying and being part of a team has made his last few days actually mean something. "It's been an honor flying with you boys." There was more screaming until Allura spoke. Her voice pierced the coms and brought everyone to attention. 

"No!" She screamed, so much more determined than ever before. "We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up. We are the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail! We won't fail! We're a team!"

Lance felt it. He felt the connection to his team. They were all in this shit together, whether they liked it or not. He knew he was just one part of a whole now, he wasn't Lance, he was the blue lion of Voltron. His very being was Voltron. 

The beam broke. 

The lion he was in began to change into a cylindrical robot, and slid into place as one of the legs of Voltron. The team was dead silent for a moment, before all hell broke loose. They moved in unison, and the world quickly became a blur. 

"I can't believe it!" Shiro yelled, followed by Pidge screaming "We formed Voltron!" Lance laughed with the team as they took a moment to master the controls, when Hunk blurted out "I'm a leg!"

"How are we doing this?" Lance asked, much more concerned about doing this again. He had no idea how he felt the pull in his gut, or the weird, cold sensation wash over him the second they had broken the tractor beam. How were they alive? "I don't know, but let's get that cannon!"

Shiro and Pidge used the arms to grab the nearest metal contraption, then ripped it off the ship. They all flew up to the main ship, and blasted a hole in the side. It began to disintegrate, starting from where they had blasted it. Fires spread amongst the Galran craft as Voltron pummeled the main ship with lasers. Debris rained down as the pilots got out of the line of fire. At last, the ship blew up for real, with a massive burst of flames. 

Lances ears rung until he was standing on the patio out front of the castle, the same place he and Keith had stood that morning. His arms felt like they were weighted down with lead, mostly from tiredness, as he stood in the circle. "Good work, Paladins!"

Allura smiled at the colective sigh that came from the wiped out team. "Thanks, pretty lady." Lance smiled at her, earning half a glance from Shiro, before Pidge said. "I can't believe we did it." Hunk smiled and put his hands behind his head. "Heck yeah, we did."

"How did we do it?" Lances voice spoke before he did, and earned tired looks from the group. Five sets of eyes that just said "we're too tired to question it." "I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it." Hunk dropped his hands as he spoke, then shrugged. 

"We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these lions." Everyone looks to Coran, who had come sprinting out when he saw they had landed. "You're going to have to form Voltron again and again." 

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time!" Lance wasn't afraid, we was more interested in addressing and acknowledging just how dangerous his life had become. This risk was everything he had now, especially after leaving Earth, and probably never going back. "And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe."

"Defenders of the Universe, huh? That's got a nice ring to it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I love you and next chapter is when I start to diverge even more from the actual show, but it'll still follow the show idk rip everything 
> 
> Also hmu if I have typos I proofread this at like 2am after going out with my friends (yes I have those) so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one doesn't really follow the show at all. This is set-up for a future plot I wanna write leave me BE
> 
> ALSO i'm sorry I haven't uploaded, I've written almost double the amount of shit I've posted, i'm just indecisive and don't know if that's what i really want the plot to do. Help me.

"How is he?" Lance meandered into the room and plopped down next to Hunk, who was working on a computer. They had been in the castle for twelve Earth days, Lance had done the math, and Keith was still in their heal-y thing. 

Lance sat outside the pod and stared through the glass. Their team had a great capacity for spreading out and not seeing each other for days at a time, until Coran called for a dinner and they all suffered through it. Lance had no idea how long they would be on this ship, but he secretly loved those dinners. He loved talking to people, slouching around all day every day was taking its toll. He felt so alienated, no pun intended, being the only one not knowing the others. The alteans would just spend their time planning, and Hunk and Pidge spend all their time working on new projects, or on this rare occasion, healing Keith. 

Keith had been stuck in that pod for a long time, and today he was scheduled to get released. They said that Keith was undergoing a process that healed the part of his brain that caused the seizing. Lance worried about that, hoping that nothing about Keith changed, like personality or anything. He did hit his head a bunch of times on their first day, it was no surprise that he had a head injury. 

"I think we should open the pod." 

Lance slid the stool he was perched on to the side, and took one last good look at peaceful Keith. He wasn't angry anymore, just plain. 

"Lance, before we open this, I feel like I have something to tell you..." Lance took his eyes off the sleeping guy, and turned to face Hunk who had been placed on medical care duty. He was the kindest out of the group, no doubting that, but he was a bit of a scaredy cat most of the time, so him initiating a conversation of emotional magnitude was a bit startling. "What's up, man?"

Lance was happy they'd grown close since he got there. He would even consider Hunk a friend, and would give anything to have met him in different circumstances. "The guy in there, your friend, I'm worried about him." Lance nodded in agreement, "me too. He opened his home to me, and showed me the blue lion. It was really weird what happened when he started talking all weird, humans don't really do that."

"That's what I need to talk about. Humans DON'T do that. Something in him was projecting a memory, except...it malfunctioned. The part of it that keeps the memory projector from overloading is broken. Or missing. Usually its held on to outside the body. I think the knife Keith was yelling about was his, in human terms, 'surge protector'."

Lance pulled the knife of his friends from his belt, then looked back to the guy in the chamber. "Why does he have one? Th-the projector thing. What are they usually used for?" Hunk shrugged and said "anything, really. Usually, the projectors are used when someone wants to preserve a memory, which is probably what he did. I have one from back on Altea, so I never forget the image of my wife." He looked sad, when Lance realized the projector had probably just kicked in. 

"So why keep the surge protector thing separate from the body? Why not have it built in?" Again, Hunk shrugged and said "I have no idea. Sometimes people need to say the memory out loud like when someone commits a crime. I dont know much reason for it. It's just the way they work." 

Lance leaned on the glass again, staring longingly at the boy beyond the pane. He could see close things about Keith without him shoving Lance away. Lance studied one particular pore on Keith's skin that had clogged, then his eyelids that were shiny from grease, then at the faint vertical lines indicating his dry lips. "Can you plant fake memories using those things?" Hunks eyes lit up at Lances question, even though he didn't see. "Yes! I've actually been working on that research for a while, it's pretty fascinating. Most sentient beings have roughly the same... brain, and I use that loosely, it's more of a processing center. The way they're formed, and with what base atoms, vary from species to species, but with the right processor and corruption code, anything can be eroded or changed."

Lance yanked his eyes away from Keith, and watched Hunk rush to the computer screen, then begin to pull up charts and facts. "No," Lance walked over to where Hunk was tapping, then rested his hand on his shoulder. "What I mean is fake memories. Memories that didn't happen even remotely. Not changed."

Hunk nodded thoughtfully, then raised his eyebrows and said "it's entirely possible someone can, I don't have the proper understand both of the human, plus galra, brain and the technology to be able to do it. I also would never test it on a live subject."

"Did you just say Galra? As if implying Keith was Galra? Look at him! He's pale, not lilac!" Lance wasn't very scared to talk about it, but apparently Hunk was. "That's...um- that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. That and the chip, that it. I guess the chip and that were the reason at the-"

"You're rambling." Hunk collected his breath, then fiddled his thumbs in a nervous gesture. "Okay this is what I wanted to talk about. I'm afraid for Keith, just as much as i'm afraid of Keith. Nobody will trust him if they find out about this projector memory. They already heard part of it, but the actual memory is pretty bad."

Lance gave him a confused look before saying, "how do you know? We only heard the voices, plus, I don't understand why would they would be afraid?" Hunk sighed, "I pulled the feed from the projector. You'll want to see it." Lance watched Hunks hands pull up something labeled in Altean. 

"I feel like we're invading his privacy..." Lance said, almost taking his eyes off the video cam footage. "As long as we don't do anything with the information, it's okay. I guess he might mind but it won't make any difference to him if we don't tell him. Doctors do this all the time." 

Lance nodded and watched Hunk play the clip. It was of Keith, and some other kid with blonde hair that hung in a poofy mess by his ears. They stood in a prison cell, with nothing but two mats on the ground, one for each of them. The boy Lance could see through Keith's vision was wearing a Garrison uniform, one the actual astronauts wear, except it was very different. It was torn on the elbows and knees, and through those tears Lance could see innumerable cuts and scars. The color had almost completely faded and any stiffness in the fabric had abandoned it completely. 

The guy couldn't have weighed anything above 100 pounds, and he was probably around 5'5. Keith had placed a hand on his shoulder, and from that Lance could see the bonyness in his arm. Lance examined his own hand, being a fairly thin person, and couldn't see his tendons or bones with half the clarity. 

"Tomorrow is day one. We finally can leave the slave pits and join the guys in the fighting arena." Keith's voice sounded foreign and lively, completely different from the guy Lance had met. It almost matched the voice he used when he went into the trance via projector. "Day one of how many?" The blond kid shrugged Keith's hand off his shoulder and turned away. He stared to strip the uniform off and Keith averted his gaze to his own uniform, lying in a neat pile on the center table. 

"Day one of something that isn't backbreaking labor, we just have every possibility of dying." Sarcasm from the blond kid, made Keith get angry. Lance could tell Keith squinted, when his frame of vision shrunk by almost half. "No matter how well you fight--you can win every round for ten years, and still you're put against the best of the best. Keith, I know i'm not the best of the best, I'll lose one day. I'll probably lose tomorrow. I'd much rather be in the slave pits, where it's more of a sound job. Where I know I won't die as easily. Nobody will smile when I die in the slave pits. Up there? They'll smile for a week."

Keith turned to him, with only half his new attire on his body. Matt, who Lance guessed was the blonde one by his voice, was fully clothed in a skin tight black body suit, and dark purple tshirt that landed right below his belly button. 

"Damn it, Matt! Don't you understand? We can get out of this! You can't escape the pits...but the arena? They pull you out. They sponsor you, bet on you, they hope for you. They'll pull you out, and bring you to their ranks. Nobody gets yanked from the pits." Matt sighed and laid down on his spot and turned his back to Keith. "I won't live a day, and you know it. Just admit it, you'll be alone again soon enough."

Keith's eyes got slightly blurry but he still pulled on his outfit and laid down on his mat to stare at the wall. He closed his eyes and the next second, he opened them to a whole new image, an arena. The pair were standing in a tunnel, as if waiting for a grand entrance. 

Please..." Matt speaking made Keith snap his eyes up to look at him. "Do it... you can do it...." Keith had tears in his eyes. "No! Matt, I won't do it!" 

The blond kid got angry and yelled, "Look, we have no other choice. They'll put us against each other, and I have nothing on Earth left for me. You have less than I do, but you also have a chance to move up in this competition and join the ranks. Hell, you're even allowed to join under normal circumstances. Me... well no matter what, this won't end well." This made Keith look away from the end of the tunnel that they'd soon be exiting to fight, and turn to Matt first time in what felt like an hour. 

"Matt please. Please don't make me...I won't be able to do it. You've been the only thing here keeping me sane-" "I believe in you, Keith." Matt was clearly shaken to the core, but in seeing Keith's worried face, he gained something he didn't know he had. "You'll make it out of here." 

Keith broke down and inhaled a sharp sob. "I don't know if I want to without you, man. I-" Matt cut him off with one hand, then turned and continued facing forward as they were a moment earlier. "Keith when you go out there, you'll win. At least one round. Then it's me, and we know who had to win that fight. You have a better chance than I'll ever have." 

Keith faced the exit of the tunnel. There used to be people standing in front of him, when the memory first started. The memory must've been a blend of a few moments, because it was almost like there were still people in front of Keith, even though he was painstakingly at the head of the line. 

Matt stood next to Keith, and was stiff as a board. Time slowed down, for Keith, while watching the men drag matt to the end of the tunnel, until he turned into a silhouette. 

The screen was fuzzy for a moment, before Keith could wipe away his tears. The next thing Lance knew, Keith was being dragged to the door. He fought them, with an awful lot of profanity and a wide array of horrific insults. They kept their metallic faces straight, as they brought him to the open arena. A giant sand pit in the center of a Roman-esque gladiator pit. There were three fights going on simultaneously, and it was obvious that there was supposed to be four, when a giant beast bellowed from across the stadium. 

Keith's eyes investigated every detail, just constantly scanning. Then he spotted him. Matt was on the side fighting a Galra soldier with a wooden stick, streaking left and right to avoid the gunshots. Laughter rang from the audience each time Matt had to run to avoid blasts. Keith dared not yell out to him, but his eyes fixated on the fight. He watched Matt get hit with a laser and fall to the ground, before Keith was thrown on all fours at the foot of the beast.

The giant bellowed again, and this time Keith got a good look at its slimy features. Lance couldn't look at it for more than a few seconds, which apparently Keith couldn't either because he averted his gaze to the sad assortment of debris on the ground. He scooped up a wooden plank and held it like a baseball bat, praying to any dietey that this had a bark worse than its bite. 

The fight was dirty, mostly just keith swinging, then scrambling out of the way. Lance could tell he was getting tired, just by the way Keith's arms were a few inches lower between strikes, after each one. Keith finally hit its underbelly just right, and the creatures stomach tore. Keith wasn't looking but Lance could hear a nice splashing sound, which he would correctly guess was the stomach, and other organs adjacent to the stomach, splatting on the ground. 

Lance watched Keith's vision go back to Matt, who had won his fight by jamming a piece of shrapnel he'd found on the floor, into the robots head. The short circuiting electronics were becoming a problem, but Matt managed to avoid them easily enough. 

The guards shoved Matt towards Keith, and Keith towards him. Keith shook his head and said, "Matt I won't do it. I swear I won't do it." The kid looked just as shaken as Keith probably felt. Matt put his fists up in a fighting stance and waited for Keith to do the same. The crowd went crazy. 

"Matt n-" Keith's vision went dark when Matt landed a solid blow to his chin. Lance watched Keith's hand feel his chin, and pull away with blood on his fingers. "We can't! I can't!" 

Matt had tears in his eyes as he watched Keith get into his fighting stance. "Please Keith. Do it quickly." He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself as Keith tackled him. Keith hit the blond kid twice, not even half as hard as he had hit Lance. There was no anger in his swings, just routine at this point. The crowd went wild. 

"Keith-" Matt grabbed Keith's arm, as tears stained Matts purple shirt from Keith's hysteric sobbing. "Do it." Keith shook as Matt gripped both his shoulders. "I can't!" 

Matt pulled Keith's right hand to his neck, and reached up to Keith's cheek to wipe away one of the many tears. "Just do it! Just fucking do it!" Keith's memory faded. 

"Oh my god..." Lance looked at Hunk, who seemed slightly relieved to have someone to discuss this with. "Yeah. Keith was a slave in the Galra empire. It's pretty heavy stuff. I don't know how he got out, but I know that knifes got to mean something. I recognize the symbol from somewhere."

Lance handed off the knife to Hunk, who examined the symbol. His mind rushed with thoughts, mostly about Keith. Lance had talked to Hunk when he was caught sneaking back in to the castle. He had flown out the night before to stop by Earth and get the knife from the cave. The lion didn't like it, but Lance used their bond to get her to budge. Hunk had been standing in the loading dock when he got back, long arms folded, waiting for Lance to reappear and explain himself. 

"Why did you show me the memory?" Hunk looked up from the blade, and handed it back to Lance. "I needed someone to watch it in case something goes wrong." Lance was getting angry. "Something goes wrong? He's a nice guy! He's not going to hurt anyone! And from what I've seen, when people say their memories or whatever, they don't move, they don't attack people! He went into a coma and almost died!" Lance couldn't imagine why Hunk was afraid. Keith clearly didn't want to hurt his friend, he just wanted to get out. That's no reason for worry. 

Hunk shook his head. "They can be corrupted, the projectors I mean. Sometimes, the memory chips get viruses, and those viruses can corrode the owners brain to a point beyond recognition. Especially, if the person isn't just one species." "You keep saying that. Is Keith Galra and Human? He grew up on Earth!"

Hunk sighed, "I don't know the story, but he isn't just a Human. That's why the guy, Matt, kept saying Keith could still rise up through Galra ranks. In fact, I think his knife is Galra..."

Lance breathed deeply, and sat back down on his stool. "Open the pod. We'll never talk about this again." Hunk looked at Lance nervously, then asked "you sure?" Lance nodded and looked back at Hunk just as nervously. "When he gets up, I'll befriend him. I'll get close to him. I'll find out more. Until then... let's hope his memory wasn't corrupted by the Galra."

Hunk nodded, handed Keith's knife back to Lance, who tucked it in his wasteland and skillfully tucked it beneath his shirt, then flipped a switch. The door hissed open, and dropped a confused Keith into Lances arms. He half carried Keith to the stool, and knelt down to the left to him. One of Lances hands remained on Keith's shoulder, the other rested on his leg. "How you feeling, buddy?"

Keith groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "I feel like I was just hit really hard on the back of the head..." Lance chuckled and stood up. "I mean, in essence you were. Anyway, welcome back to reality." 

Hunk said "I'm going to get some food for Keith, I'll be right back." Lance gave him a nod, as Keith kept his eyes focused on Lances hand hanging next to him to keep himself from tipping over. "How long have I been in there?" "A couple days. I don't know for sure, it's hard to tell how many days have passed. I'm guessing almost two weeks." 

"What have I missed?" Lance sat down on the floor in front of Keith, so he could be in Keith's line of sight, and began to tell him all about the past fights. The fight against Sendak and when Hunk almost died getting his lion and Allura handing out the bayards, and even things that had happened after the fight. Most of them were about Pidge messing some technology up and sending the castle into red alert mode. 

Lance had forgot just how much Keith had missed since his memory projector malfunctioned. "There's a ton I should explain, like okay so each person gets a big metal lion, right? And these lions all form one big ro-" Hunk walked back in, when Lance realized he had actually left the second Keith woke up, with a plate of food for Keith, who Lance helped move the chair he was on to the work table nearby. 

"Sorry it took so long. Allura was asking me about some quintessence refractor she was working on, how are you feeling?" Hunk eyed the knife in Lances waistband unsteadily, then shot an angry glare at Lance who was in the process of covering it with his shirt again. Hunk obviously didn't want Lance to return it yet, but how could Keith stay stable if he didn't have the knife?

He dug into his food, and cleared his plate in a matter of seconds. "I need to lie down." Lance half walked, half dragged him to the door. He shot Hunk one final glance, before turned to Keith. "Hop on." 

Keith looked slightly startled at the odd request. "I don't want to drag you all the way to the closest empty room. I'll carry you. Piggy-back style. Hop on." Lance crouched and held his hands back, indicating for Keith to jump up. He reluctantly complied, and held on to Lances neck for dear life. 

They made it back to the room Allura had set aside for Keith, and Lance dropped him down next to the bed. He had spent the past almost two weeks doing just about nothing, but he spent the past few days making this room into a home for Keith. Lance and Keith had no belongings, Keith didn't really have any on Earth either, but Lance did his best. He made the bed, and made sure to leave two extra blankets on the end just in case. He also had Pidge help him instal a shower in the bathroom off the room. It was crude, with a large metal bucket as the bathtub and slightly rusted pipes sticking out of the wall. 

Lance was planning to set one up for himself, but Pidge quickly got distracted and began to complain that there were more important things to do. Lance let them get back to their work, and asked Hunk. Naturally hunk comes from a planet where they take dust baths, and had no idea how to route water, much less distinguish between hot and cold water. No shower for Lance. 

Lance had also stopped by a convenient store before he left with the knife, and picked up a pair of toothbrushes, some toothpaste, soap, two razors, and a few other bathroom essentials. He even bought some comfort things, like another sweatshirt, and pillow for Keith. He stocked Keith's shelf on the side wall with everything he'd gotten, then hunted around the castle for any sort of decoration. Lance didn't even see it as doing something nice for keith, he just saw it as something to do. 

Shiro had helped Lance get a paper copy of the constellations back on earth. He had to search all through the storage deck to find even one thing made of paper, much less this specific map. He found a blank poster paper and had Shiro print out the sky on it, with the constellations highlighted. It hung over the only blank wall, and Lance left a little note on the back labeling the paper, "Keith's window :)" 

Keith looked around in his confused state, and admired the things he now had, as Lance threw the sheets he'd picket up, onto the bed. Keith didn't know if this was even his room, or stuff, much less how to thank Lance, as the younger boy left the room. "Thanks," Keith said weakly, earning a smile and a nod from Lance, which was just barely flashed before the door hissed closed. 

He sat down on the edge of the bed and felt something hard beneath him. He reached under the freshly laid covers to find his mothers knife sitting there, with a sticky note attached that said, "don't tell Hunk ;)". Keith grinned and laid down, only sitting in the semi-darkness for a moment before he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a mess

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy. I have another chapter typed and unedited, there's a bunch of changes I want to make. And because i'm writing this and posting it before i'm finished (hell, I don't even have a complete plan for this yet) it'll probably have at least one (1) major continuity error. I'm sorry folks. Also i'm probably gonna make a vine reference in the next chapter so stay tuned.


End file.
